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Malaysia's AirAsia cuts Airbus A330neo order plans but adds A321XLR

KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 30 (Reuters) - Malaysia's flagship budget airline AirAsia Group Bhd on Friday cut its plans for Airbus SE A330neo orders by nearly two-thirds to 12, as it firmed up an order, but said it would also order 30 of the new long-range A321XLR narrowbodies.

The airline's long-haul arm AirAsia X Bhd announced 34 orders for A330neo widebodies at the Farnborough Airshow in 2018. Airbus said at the time these were firm orders but the deal was thrown into doubt as AirAsia sought to rejig its fleet requirements.

Industry sources have said AirAsia was in talks to become a launch customer for the A321XLR at the Paris Airshow in June but an agreement did not materialise in time for the showcase event. (Reporting by Liz Lee in Kuala Lumpur; Additional reporting by Tim Hepher in Paris; Writing by Jamie Freed; Editing by Jacqueline Wong)